Category: Golf Tips

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Golf Tips

How to Avoid Slow Play in Golf

By Shooting 90

Slow play has become a large problem for the game of golf. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for an 18 hole round of golf to take over five hours. I’m not a speed golfer but I can play a round in three hours with no traffic on the course. The golf industry would love for golfers to be able to complete rounds in four hours. Slow play is not directly related to being a high handicap golfer. It’s not the number of strokes that one takes but instead all of the activity in between. Look at the professional golf tours. These golfers have their livelihoods on the line with every shot so they have a reason to take their time. Still, pace of play on the professional tours is agonizingly slow. So while you can glean some tips from watching pros on TV, don’t mimic their slow play.

So what causes slow play and what can golfers do to speed up the pace?

A big reason for slow play is not having a consistent, timely pre-shot routine for all of your shots, including full swings, pitches, chips and putts. Having a timely routine involves selecting the right club. This requires judging the distance, wind, lie of the ball and elevation change to the hole. Once you have the right club, take one practice swing,line up to a target and take your shot. One practice swing is plenty. The time for practice swings is on the driving range.

Putting is arguably the most important part of your golf game. More strokes are taken with your putter than any other club. This makes reading putts very important to your success. However, many golfers take way too long to complete their pre-putt routines. I believe reading putts requires getting a side view to judge elevation and a view from below the hole. I view from above the hole is also beneficial but only when time allows. But like the full swing pre-shot routine, many times some of the reads can be completed before your turn while others are reading their putts. While walking up to the green, get a look at the general slope of the green. Then, if others are playing before you, get a read or two on your putt while they are reading theirs. Be sure to be out of the way and quiet as they line up over their ball and putt.

Ironically, another source of slow play is the riding cart. Many times golfers in the same cart will ride over to one of the player’s ball on one side of the fairway and the other person will wait there the whole duration of the pre-shot routine and shot. They will then drive over to the other player’s ball and do the same. This is too time consuming and the wrong way to play cart golf. For times when two players in a cart are on opposite sides of the fairway, the driver should drive the passenger to their ball. The passenger should quickly determine their club to use. If they are in between clubs, the passenger should take both and the driver should go to their ball. This way both players can prepare and take their shots without a lot of unnecessary waiting.

Searching for lost golf balls is also a source of slow play. By rule you are allowed five minutes to search for a lost ball. During casual play, the only time you should take five minutes is when your ball is lost in an area where you have a next shot if you find it. For example, many times your ball can get lost in the rough. If you hit your ball in the thick woods, by all means take a minute to look for it (after all they’re expensive), but then take a drop since you wouldn’t have a realistic next shot even if you found it. One more thing about searching for lost balls. Other members in the group should hit their next shots before helping the player search for their lost ball. Do not have your entire foursome looking for a lost ball before they have taken their next shots.

Keep an eye on your pace of play next time you are on the course. If the course is busy and the hole in front of you is completely open, you’re probably playing too slow. Make sure you are using the ideas we discussed and speed up your play.

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Golf Tips

5 Ways to Shoot 90 This Year

By Shooting 90

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, you are not alone as many others do as well. My personal feeling is if you want to make definitive change in your life you should do so immediately. The time of the year should make no difference. But since New Year’s is a popular time to talk resolutions, here’s our list on 5 ways to shoot 90 this year.

1. Practice

Many high handicap golfers have decent swings and the ability to produce good golf shots. Consistency is the missing ingredient for many golfers. Practicing a fundamentally sound swing is the fastest way to build the consistency necessary to improve your game.  How do you think the pros get their game to a high level? They hit a thousand balls a week. Obviously most amateur golfers have neither the time nor the desire to commit that much effort to their golf game. The good thing is we do not have to commit a lot of time to improve our games. By maximizing your practice time, you can significantly improve your golf game with one hour of practice a week. Be sure to practice your chipping and putting. Many golfers hit balls on the range but ignore the most important area of their game – the short game.

2. Play More

Along with regular practice, you need to play often to improve your game. Expecting to elevate your game by playing 12 times a year is unrealistic. Make a goal this year to play every week. No matter how well you simulate shots in your practice, there are components of your game you can only improve on the golf course. Join a league or set a standing weekly tee time with your golfing companions.

3. Get Help with your Golf Swing

Many of us at some point have had a serious swing flaw that has prevented us from hitting consistent shots. This may be slicing your drives, hitting a fairway wood fat, or any other shot issue. To move from being a high handicap golfer to shooting 90, you need to correct reoccurring problems with any of your shots. Amateurs will always have the occasional bad shots, but it is impossible to improve your game having to continually compensate for mishits. The fastest way to correct problems with your swing is with the help of a teaching professional. There are many ways to get help, including your local club professional and clinics.

4. Hit More Greens in Regulation

One requirement to become a low handicap golfer is to increase the number of greens you hit in regulation. Hitting a high number  of greens in regulation is the secret to scoring low. Hitting more greens is also essential for a high handicap golfer to move to shooting bogey golf. It takes pressure off of two areas of a high handicapper’s game that are usually laking – chipping and bunker play. Proper club selection and a GPS can help you increase the number of greens in regulation you are hitting.

5. Drastically Reduce 3 Putts

Whatever level your golf game may be at, putting will play a huge role in taking your game to the next level. For high handicap golfers, this means reducing the number of times you three putt a green. Three putts will either ruin a good scoring opportunity or compound previous mistakes on a hole and lead to a blow-up hole. Being realistic, high handicappers will rarely go through a round without three putting a green. However, reducing the total number of putts during a round ultimately will lead to better scoring. The easiest way to reduce the total number of putts per round is to reduce the number of three putts you have. Improving your putting involves correctly determining the speed and reading the break.

Are you willing to commit the time and effort this year to move from being a high handicap golfer to shooting 90? Increase your practice and playing time and you’ll be on your way!

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Golf Tips

The Advantages of Golfing by Yourself

By Shooting 90

Golf can be played in a variety of ways. You can compete individually or as a team. Even when competing individually, you are usually playing in a group. When not competing, playing golf with your regular golf companions is a very enjoyable activity. Golf is a very social sport.

While golf is obviously enjoyable with others, I would also encourage you to not avoid golfing alone. Many courses will not allow singles during busy times and will pair you up with others to make a foursome. This is understandable. A bunch of single players on a busy golf course is not an efficient way to bring in income. However, even at my local home course which is very busy during the summer, I can get out on the course by myself during twilight and early morning times. I can usually go out solo anytime of the day during non-peak months.

There are many advantages to golfing by yourself.

  • There’s no pressure – Most of us experience some kind of added pressure and tension when playing in a group. Playing with someone new for the first time adds to this tension. Hit a few bad shots and soon you have a snowball effect. This pressure if non-existent when playing alone. Shrug off a bad shot and move on.
  • It’s easier to play forward or back tees – By playing off of a different color tee, you will have different approach shots than you are accustomed to from playing off your regular tee. This gives you valuable practice with clubs you might normally not use. You are free from any questions to play any tee you want when you are out alone.
  • You can set your own pace – Playing alone, you will not feel rushed by other players in your group or by other groups behind you. If by chance a single or group of two catches up to you, simply let them play through. You will most likely be forced to slow down your game so you will not be on a group in front of you for the whole round. Use this time to think through every shot and practice your pre-shot routine.
  • Play two balls – Hitting two balls if the pace of play allows is a good way to avoid continually being on a group in front of you. You can mix things up by playing a worst ball scramble by yourself. Hit two balls from every spot and play the worst shot. This is a great way to practice tough shots.
  • You can talk to yourself – I don’t mean negative talk. There’s no place for that. I’m talking about giving yourself positive motivation during the round. Verbally congratulate yourself after good shots. The positive affirmation is great for your golf game.

 

Take advantage of times you can get out on the course by yourself. The solitude, ability to set your own pace, and being able to play your own game provide a great atmosphere to improve your game.

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Golf Tips

Don’t Manage Your Round Like a Pro!

By Shooting 90

Golf is a challenging sport. There are many, many body movements that make up your swing. Not correctly executing any one of these movements can have disastrous results. Watch the pros this weekend. Almost all of them will execute at least one swing incorrectly resulting in a poor shot.

One area you less seldom see a pro make a mistake in is course management. Course management is playing your way around the course by best utilizing the strengths of your game. It is rare to see a professional golfer hit a shot out of trouble that does not put them in a better position. We amateurs do it quite more often. By using better course management, high handicap golfers will be able to shave strokes off their round. These are valuable strokes on the way to shooting 90.

“Your name may be Rory, Phil or even Tiger, but you’re not them.”

I enjoy watching professional golf on TV. The pros’ level of play is both amazing and inspiring. Some of the shots they pull off to recovery from bad spots are jaw-dropping. Phil Mickelson’s second shot off the pine straw on the 13th hole of the 2010 Masters final round was incredible. As was Bill Haas’ third shot on the second sudden-death playoff hole of the Tour Championship on his way to winning the 2011 FexExCup Playoffs. I only wish they came with the warning “These are professionals – Do not try this on your home course”.

I’m not blaming professionals for my ill-advised shots. Sometimes we trick ourselves into believing we can pull off shots we do not possess the skills for. We try to pull off the improbable shot and leave ourselves in the same or worse situation.

High handicap golfers need to build the discipline to take an unplayable lie and salvage the hole the best we can. You should not attempt a shot unless you are 80% confident you can pull it off. By failing to pull off the improbable shot, we put ourselves in position to have a blowup hole. It is difficult to recover your round after a triple bogey or worst.

“Make Going for Par 5’s in Two a Rare Occurrence.”

I’m not saying never go for a par 5 in two. Sometimes you boom the perfect drive and have the perfect lie in the fairway on a par 5 with an accessible green. The problem is that the majority of the time, the risk of going for it in two is greater than the reward. The best you can expect when missing the green is a short yardage chip off the fairway. You have an equal chance of being in a bunker, green-side rough or worse yet a hazard.

You are better off to layup to a yardage that you are comfortable with. My comfortable yardage for a third shot on a par 5 is 100 yards. Yours may be different. 100 yards leaves me with a full wedge to the pin. This shot actually gives me a better chance of a realistic birdie putt than a shot from a green-side bunker or rough does.

“Play the Shot You Brought to the Course.”

We all have a ball flight that is natural to the skill level we are at and where our game currently stands. It may be a slight draw, fade or even relatively straight. When warming up on the range or on the first hole or two, you may find your ball flight path is noticeably different. Our natural urge is to fix it but neither the warmup period or the course is the correct time or place. Our swing and ball flight path are defined by practicing and committing our muscles to memory. Making changes on the course will only fill our head with swing thoughts leading to bad shots and high scores.

What usually happens to me when trying to change my swing on the course is my first correction isn’t enough. I end up over-correcting on my next shot which usually has major consequences.

The next time you find yourself with a slightly different ball path out on the course, manage your game around it instead of trying to change it. Leave the work on your swing to your practice time on the range.

We need to manage our way around the course differently than the pros. There are shots we cannot make, par 5’s we cannot easily reach in two, and swing corrections we cannot make on the course. Match your course management to your game and shave strokes off your score.

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Golf Tips

Take Full Advantage of your Home Golf Course

By Shooting 90

As your basic swing skills come together and you begin to play more golf, you may want to become a member at a local course near you. I’m not specifically speaking of a fancy private country club. Many public golf courses also offer yearly memberships.

There are many benefits of becoming a member at a local golf course:

  • Unlimited golf
  • Some courses include free range balls
  • You can play in the club championship
  • Easier to get tee times
  • Playing repeatedly on the same course builds confidence

Along with the many benefits, there may be a few pitfalls in becoming a member. While playing the same course will build confidence, things may become too routine if you are not careful. You may find yourself knowing what club you are going to hit on each hole before the round even begins. This includes not using multiple clubs in your bag at any point in the round. It is important to regularly use every club in your bag.

Fortunately there are many things you can do to avoid things becoming to routine. The most obvious thing is to play different courses. Even with the benefits of having a home course, you should occasionally be playing different courses. Not knowing a golf course keeps your mental game and course management skills sharp. You’ll also probably see yourself hitting clubs that you normally do not on your home course. Many golf courses have reciprocal deals with other courses that will give you a discounted green fee on those courses. Even with the discounts, playing these other courses is an additional expense to the membership fee you are already paying for your home course.

Let’s look at some ways to get the maximum benefit from your home course. Playing your home course in a different way is beneficial to improving your game.

Don’t play exclusively from the white or red tees. Next round, play from a longer tee. You will find your longer irons and hybrids will come into play more often than they do from a more forward tee. This will help you be comfortable playing any club in your bag when on other courses where you will need them. Please keep in mind that you will score higher from a longer tee. We are just not as accurate from longer distances. This is normal and perfectly OK. In fact, if you keep a handicap, the handicap system accounts for what tee you are playing from.

On the flip side, do not be against playing from a forward tee once in a while. The red tees are not ladies tees and the gold tees are not senior/youth tees. They are simply red and gold tees providing an opportunity to play from a shorter yardage. The expected outcome when playing from a more forward tee than usual is to score lower. Playing up will provide you approach shots into the green with short irons ands wedges. The short game is the most important part of anyone’s game. The more times you can get real on-course work on your short game the better off your game will be. Once again, if you keep a handicap, the system will account for playing a shorter tee and your handicap will not become artificially low by playing up.

Another option on some holes when playing your regular tees is to use a different club off of the tee. For example, keep your driver in the bag for some par 4’s and use a 3 wood or other club off the tee. This gives you practice off the tee with other clubs. You may find that the increased accuracy with a different club other than your driver may increase your scoring opportunities on some holes. This, like playing longer tees, increases the length of approach shots forcing you to use clubs in your bag you normally do not.

So start mixing things up on your home course. The increased use of clubs you may normally not play will benefit your golf game especially when playing new courses.

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Golf Tips

How Statistics Can Improve Your Golf Game

By Shooting 90

Statistics from your round can help determine what area of your golf game should get priority at the practice range. There are a large number of stats you can track, but because too many stats just become noise, I like to track only a few simple stats for each hole.

  • Fairways Hit (Driving Accuracy)
  • Greens in Regulation
  • Number of Putts
  • Number of Penalty Strokes

These four statistics are easily tracked on a scorecard.

Example of Scorecard Stats

There’s one stat missing here that is commonly tracked by others and that is sand saves. A more appropriate stat, and one I may begin tracking, is green side saves. It is the percentage of times you get up and down when in close proximity to the green. The short game – pitching, chipping and putting – is the biggest area in which high handicap golfers can shave strokes off their game. I already track number of putts and tracking green side saves will not only provide feedback on my pitching and chipping but will also help further clarify my putting stats.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the stats I currently track.

Fairways Hit

This is called driving accuracy on the PGA Tour. You track whether or not your drive stopped in the fairway on each hole. At least in the way I presently track it, this is the least beneficial stat I track.

The quality of your shots off the tee can not be fully justified by a yes or no answer. You can miss the fairway to varying degrees. Your ball can be just off the fairway sitting up nice in the first cut of rough or it can be 100 yards back in the woods. Both of these count as a missed fairway. Golf Digest published a different system a few years back to track driving accuracy. It involves scoring missed fairways on a scale of zero to four. Find more information on this system by following the link below.

The Real Measure Of Driving Accuracy

This is an interesting system that does a better job of tracking driving accuracy. However, I choose not to use it. It’s more work and I prefer to keep things simple while I’m out on the course.

A yes or no answer to whether or not you hit the fairway still provides valuable information. After all, the goal is to hits as many fairways as possible. Just remember to look back on the fairways you missed. Did you still leave the ball in a good position? Did you strike your drives well today? Or did you mishit your shots of the tee and incur penalties? You need to focus on both proper club selection off the tee (you don’t always have to bomb your driver) and hitting these clubs at the practice range if you are getting into trouble off the tee.

Greens in Regulation

Greens in regulation, in my opinion, is the most important stat any golfer can track. Hitting a green in regulation means you are on the green and have a birdie putt or better. The ability to hit greens, along with putting, is the key to scoring low in golf but it also plays a big role in taking a high handicap golfer to shooting 90.

Missing too many greens puts a lot of pressure on your short game. When you hit greens in regulation, unless you four putt, the absolute worst you can score is a bogey. As an improving high handicap golfer, you should be hitting between 25% and 50% of greens in regulation depending on where you are at in your journey to shooting 90. If you are not in this range, you need to work on both club selection and hitting those clubs at the practice range.

Number of Putts

The number of putts you make on each hole is an important stat. After all, the putter is the most used club by a wide margin. It makes senses that putting provides the most opportunity to improve your scoring.

But this stat can also be misleading. A three putt from ten feet is much worse than a three putt from fifty feet. Also, a large number of holes with one putt does not necessarily mean you are scoring well. It could mean you are missing a lot of greens, chipping on and leaving yourself short putts.

There are other ways to track putts that have been developed. One is to count the length of the last putt on each hole and totaling them up for the round.

The more feet of putts you make during a round, the better you are putting. This isn’t fool proof either as one long putt can skew the numbers. Keeping things simple, I just count the number of putts per hole. I do however make sure to look at all my stats in relationship to one another.

Number of Penalty Strokes

Minimizing penalty strokes goes hand in hand with moving towards shooting 90. I track the number of penalty strokes I have on each hole.

At the end of the round, I can look back on the holes I had penalties on. There can be several different causes of penalty strokes. Sometimes you just hit a poor shot. Emphasize that club the next time you’re on the practice range. Sometimes it might be choosing the wrong club. Try hitting 3 wood off the tee on holes where your driver is getting you into trouble.

Keeping stats for your rounds is a good way to target areas for improvement in your golf game. Keep the number of stats manageable and remember to look at all of your stats in relationship to each other.

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Consistency

By Shooting 90

Bucket of ballsConsistency is the main factor separating amateur golfers from professionals. I know what you’re thinking. Professional golfers can hit some amazing golf shots that I could never pull off. That is absolutely true but their success stems more from consistently good, not amazing, shots in every area of their game.

Better consistency in your golf swing is a big part of an improving your game. From your grip to your follow through, a consistent swing will allow you to hit good shots with every club in your bag. Sometimes you can feel inconsistencies in your own swing. However, it is much easier to see the problems in your swing. Today’s technology makes it both easy and affordable to record video of your swing. Most digital still cameras have a video mode while standalone video cameras can be purchased for under $100. These devices allow you to easily record and playback your swing to finds areas for improvement. Playing partners are also an excellent source for finding inconsistencies in your swing. Hopefully you have the opportunity to regularly play with golfers who are better than you. Not only will golfing with better golfers naturally improve your game, they are in a better position to analyze your swing. While video recording and playing partners can identify areas to improve, some high handicap golfers have difficulty implementing swing fixes on their own. I recommend these golfers inquire about lessons from a golf professional in their area. Most golf courses have a golf professional on staff. Both single lessons or multiple lesson packages are available for a reasonable price. It may only take only a lesson or two to enable you to implement swing fixes on your own.

Many amateurs do not have enough consistency in their pre-shot routine. This is also true for pre-putt routines. The pre-shot routine is where you visualize and align the shot. Get in the habit of following the same routine before each shot. It will allow you to more consistently hit your intended targets.

Course management is how you work your way around the course. Knowing what club to hit off of the tee, knowing when to lay up or go for the green, and knowing how to get out of trouble quickly and back into play are all important parts of your game. Choosing the right club for the situation will improve your scoring. Properly getting out of trouble will help you to minimize blowup holes. I define blowup holes as holes with a score of triple bogey or worse. We can recover from a double bogey by picking up a par on a later hole. Triple bogeys or worse are much harder to recover from and will lead to a high score for the round.

Consistency will be an underlying theme of many if not all of the posts here on Shooting 90. More consistency in our golf game is what will drive us to become bogey golfers and beyond.

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Welcome to Shooting 90

By Shooting 90

Golf is such a quirky sport. You’d have a hard time naming another sport that can be so enjoyable, addicting and frustrating all at the same time. This is especially true for players of a low skill level or who are just starting out. There are several reasons why high handicap golfers should work on improving their game.

One of the biggest reasons to improve your game is that it makes golf more enjoyable. Let’s face it. Nobody likes to struggle. Lack of consistency is the main reason why high handicap golfers struggle. There’s a reason professionals hit thousands of balls at the practice range every week. While it is important for everyone to establish regular practice time at the range, few of us can dedicate the time necessary to become scratch golfers. Many high handicap golfers would be happy to score bogies on a consistent basis. We will discuss ways here at Shooting 90 to get to that point.

Playing better golf also opens many more opportunities within the game. You will be able to play just about any course without feeling embarrassed or intimidated. You will also be able to play with many more players without the intimidation. Fun golf outings and charity tournaments also become possibilities.

What areas of your game should you work on improving? Obviously there’s your swing. But there’s also how you play the game. There are really only a few key objectives in golf.

The first is hitting the fairway. Your tee shot sets the tone for the entire hole. Have a disastrous tee shot and your remaining shots will need to be near-perfect to make a bogey. The ability to tee up the ball is a gift of having the best lie of any shot on the hole. You need to take capitalize on this advantage with a quality shot. This means your driver may not be the preferred club for some holes.

The second, and I feel most important objective, is hitting the green. I say this because if you could hit every green in regulation, meaning getting the ball on the green in two strokes less than par, you could three putt every hole and still shoot bogey golf. Hitting more greens in regulation means playing safe shots and not necessarily going for the pin. Using a GPS or GPS app also greatly improves your ability to hit more greens.

The final objective is successfully putting the ball in the hole. There is a famous saying that says “Drive for show, putt for dough”. You need exceptional putting skills to be a highly successful golfer. Yet I believe you can still consistently play bogey golf without having mad putting skills. I would be the perfect example of this. I have improved my putting but it remains the weakest part of my game. There is a large amount of “feel” required to be an excellent putter. It is almost like an art. Even so there are many things you can work on to eliminate as many three putts as possible. The goal is to make some long putts now and then while two putting everything else.

Equipment is an area in which many high handicap golfers make mistakes. Custom fitted clubs and golf spikes are must haves for every golfer. The mistakes many golfers make is to use the clubs and balls that professionals use. This may be fine for drivers, shoes and gloves but using the irons and balls of professionals may have a negative effect on your game. Pros use forged irons that assist them in shaping their shots. Forged irons however require a high level of skill and consistency to use. More than high handicap golfers possess. Professionals also use balls with a very soft cover that are easy to spin. These balls actually magnify a high handicap golfer’s bad shots. Yes, that’s correct. That Titleist Pro V1 is probably not the best ball for your game.

There are many steps that high handicap golfers can take to improve their game in the limited time that most of us have. I hope you will join me in the journey to improve our games.